Directing

Hiroshi Shimizu

Born March 28, 1903 · Shizuoka, Japan

Died June 23, 1966 · aged 63

Hiroshi Shimizu ( March 28, 1903 – June 23, 1966) was a Japanese film director, known for his silent films with detailed depictions of Japanese society. He was born in Shizuoka and attended the Shochiku studio in Tokyo where he began making films in 1924, at the age of just 21. A friend and colleague of Yasujiro Ozu, he is believed to have directed at least 166 films during his career. He died of …

Known For

Image of a Mother

Image of a Mother · 1959

Image of a Mother

The young boy Michio struggles with the loss of his mother while his widowed father, Sadao remarries the kind-hearted Sonoko, who has a daughter of her own. As Michio clings to memories of his mother, the family navigates the challenges of grief, love, and new beginnings.

Children of the Beehive

Children of the Beehive · 1948

Children of the Beehive

A group of war orphans initially seen scratching out an existence through black market work, as they are taken under the wing of a nameless soldier, just repatriated after the war.

Japanese Girls at the Harbor

Japanese Girls at the Harbor · 1933

Japanese Girls at the Harbor

MovieDramaRomance

Set in the port city of Yokohama, two girls, Sunako and Dora who attend a Christian school, pledge to be friends. But when a youth named Henry appears on his motorcycle and offers to take Sunako for a ride, we know that this friendship won't last and that the lives of both girls will change in ways they are barely able to comprehend, and can do little to change.

The Sentimental Idiot

The Sentimental Idiot · 1956

The Sentimental Idiot

Performing every night for an audience of male admirers, cabaret singer Yuri captures the attention of Yoshio Tsugawa, a motorcycle salesman who becomes hopelessly enchanted by the unattainable star. In his desperation to win her favor, Yoshio deceives his own customers to support Yuri’s glamorous lifestyle, ultimately ending up imprisoned for embezzlement.

The Golden Demon

The Golden Demon · 1937

The Golden Demon

MovieRomanceDrama

A penniless orphan loses the woman he loves, when her family arranges a marriage to a wealthy playboy. He believes she was blinded by greed, and becomes a miser.

Sound in the Mist

Sound in the Mist · 1956

Sound in the Mist

MovieDramaRomance

In the heart of the Japanese Alps, in Kamikochi, Nagano Prefecture, botany professor Kazuhiko Onuma spends time with Tsuruko, his lover. One night, Kazuhiko's wife Kazuyo comes to see them and confronts the professor about his extramarital affair, and Tsuruko, an inevitable witness to the confrontation, leaves the professor the following morning. Over the next decade, whenever he visits the mountain cabin every autumn equinox, the memory of Tsuruko will forever haunt Kazuhiko...

Mr. Thank You

Mr. Thank You · 1936

MovieDramaComedy

In Depression-era Japan, a courteous bus driver carries an eclectic group of passengers from the mountainous Izu to Tokyo.

Sayon's Bell

Sayon's Bell · 1943

Based on the true story of a 17-year old Atayal girl called Sayun Hayun from Nan'oku village, Giran district, Taihoku Prefecture (in current Taiwan) who went missing and was thought to have drowned whilst helping carry the luggage of her teacher Masaki Takita during a storm in 1938.

Filmography

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Image of a Mother

Image of a Mother · 1959

Image of a Mother

The young boy Michio struggles with the loss of his mother while his widowed father, Sadao remarries the kind-hearted Sonoko, who has a daughter of her own. As Michio clings to memories of his mother, the family navigates the challenges of grief, love, and new beginnings.

Director

Children of the Beehive

Children of the Beehive · 1948

Children of the Beehive

A group of war orphans initially seen scratching out an existence through black market work, as they are taken under the wing of a nameless soldier, just repatriated after the war.

Director

Japanese Girls at the Harbor

Japanese Girls at the Harbor · 1933

Japanese Girls at the Harbor

MovieDramaRomance

Set in the port city of Yokohama, two girls, Sunako and Dora who attend a Christian school, pledge to be friends. But when a youth named Henry appears on his motorcycle and offers to take Sunako for a ride, we know that this friendship won't last and that the lives of both girls will change in ways they are barely able to comprehend, and can do little to change.

Director

The Sentimental Idiot

The Sentimental Idiot · 1956

The Sentimental Idiot

Performing every night for an audience of male admirers, cabaret singer Yuri captures the attention of Yoshio Tsugawa, a motorcycle salesman who becomes hopelessly enchanted by the unattainable star. In his desperation to win her favor, Yoshio deceives his own customers to support Yuri’s glamorous lifestyle, ultimately ending up imprisoned for embezzlement.

Director

The Golden Demon

The Golden Demon · 1937

The Golden Demon

MovieRomanceDrama

A penniless orphan loses the woman he loves, when her family arranges a marriage to a wealthy playboy. He believes she was blinded by greed, and becomes a miser.

Director

Sound in the Mist

Sound in the Mist · 1956

Sound in the Mist

MovieDramaRomance

In the heart of the Japanese Alps, in Kamikochi, Nagano Prefecture, botany professor Kazuhiko Onuma spends time with Tsuruko, his lover. One night, Kazuhiko's wife Kazuyo comes to see them and confronts the professor about his extramarital affair, and Tsuruko, an inevitable witness to the confrontation, leaves the professor the following morning. Over the next decade, whenever he visits the mountain cabin every autumn equinox, the memory of Tsuruko will forever haunt Kazuhiko...

Director

Mr. Thank You

Mr. Thank You · 1936

MovieDramaComedy

In Depression-era Japan, a courteous bus driver carries an eclectic group of passengers from the mountainous Izu to Tokyo.

Director

Sayon's Bell

Sayon's Bell · 1943

Based on the true story of a 17-year old Atayal girl called Sayun Hayun from Nan'oku village, Giran district, Taihoku Prefecture (in current Taiwan) who went missing and was thought to have drowned whilst helping carry the luggage of her teacher Masaki Takita during a storm in 1938.

Director

Victory Song

Victory Song · 1945

An anthology of thirteen patriotic stories about Japanese citizens contributing to the war effort.

Writer

Girl's Reform School

Girl's Reform School · 1956

Girl's Reform School

The day to day life in an establishment for delinquent teenage girls.

Director

The Masseurs and a Woman

The Masseurs and a Woman · 1938

The Masseurs and a Woman

A pair of blind masseurs, an enigmatic city woman, a lonely man and his ill-behaved nephew—The Masseurs and a Woman is made up of crisscrossing miniature studies of love and family at a remote resort in the mountains. With delicate and surprising humor, Hiroshi Shimizu paints a timeless portrait of loneliness and the human need to connect.

Director

Ornamental Hairpin

Ornamental Hairpin · 1941

Ornamental Hairpin

MovieDramaComedy

A Japanese mountain inn patron's foot is cut by an ornamental hairpin accidentally left behind by a former patron, leading to much curiosity among the other patrons regarding her identity.

Director

My Darling of the Mountains

My Darling of the Mountains · 2008

My Darling of the Mountains

MovieDramaRomance

In the mountain hot springs of Izu, Japan, a love triangle is waiting to happen. It is the late 1930s when the paths of a stunning woman fleeing Tokyo, a handsome bachelor and a blind masseur cross.

Scenario Writer

Mole Alley

Mole Alley · 1953

33-year-old poor writer Ogata was able to endure his miserable life cheerfully thanks to Yoshie, a 19-year-old innocent young wife. After graduating from a girls' school in Hokuriku, she immediately moved to Tokyo to meet and marry Ogata. After neatly writing Ogata's manuscript, he would buy dorayaki as a gratuity and devour it.

Screenplay

Eclipse

Eclipse · 1934

The story is centered around the devastating experiences of two villagers, Osaki Shuichi, and his cousin, Nishimiura Kinue, when they leave their hometown for the metropolis of Tokyo. They are in love with each other, but Kinue is expected to marry the lawyer Kanda Seiji. In consequence, Shukichi leaves for Tokyo, where he becomes tutor to the son of the rich Iwaki family. The heartbroken Kinue also makes her way to the capital, where she becomes a bar hostess.

Director

Tokyo Profile · 1953

A motley cast of characters, including a human billboard and a shoeshine girl, help a 5 year old girl after she is separated from her mother on the crowded streets of Ginza.

Screenplay

The Shiinomi School

The Shiinomi School · 1955

The Shiinomi School

A university professor and his wife have two sons with infantile paralysis. Through trial and error, they struggle to open a school for disabled children at their own expense. Based on a true story, it features natural child performances under Hiroshi Shimizu’s skillful direction.

Director

Seven Seas: Chastity Chapter

Seven Seas: Chastity Chapter · 1932

Seven Seas: Chastity Chapter

Part two of Shimizu's major silent Seven Seas, a family drama of the intertwining fates of the rich, decadent Yagibashis and the far less prosperous Sone family.

Director

Dawn Chorus

Dawn Chorus · 1941

A young girl gives up high school to help out family expenses and starts to work as a bus conductor.

Director

Introspection Tower

Introspection Tower · 1941

Introspection Tower

A reformatory in the remote countryside houses 200 delinquents and problem children. The teachers and caretakers face much trouble. The school is often short on water, and one day, the well runs dry.

Director

Walk Cheerfully

Walk Cheerfully · 1930

Walk Cheerfully

MovieRomanceCrime

Raucous small-time thief Kenji falls in love with sweet and simple Yazue, but when she finds out what kind of guy he really is, she leaves him until he proves to be honest. Kenji soon finds it's not so easy to get rid of one's past.

Story

I Graduated, But...

I Graduated, But... · 1929

I Graduated, But...

Tetsuo Nomoto, a young college graduate tries to find a decent job by himself. Later on, he will marry his girlfriend, Machiko, whom he hides the fact that he has no job. Hardships come quickly, which forces Machiko to find a job in a bar.

Story

Dancing Girl

Dancing Girl · 1957

MovieDramaRomance

In Asakusa, Tokyo, a couple of a violinist Yamano and a revue dancer Hanae lives in poverty. One day Hanae’s little sister rolls into their apartment and begins to stir things up with her riotousness.

Director

Children Seeking a Mother

Children Seeking a Mother · 1956

Children Seeking a Mother

While working in an education center for lonely children, a mother seeks her missing son.

Director